Imagine millions of packages crossing borders daily, bringing unprecedented trade convenience while simultaneously presenting significant security risks and tax loopholes. How can we ensure security while maximizing trade development, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers? This was the central issue actively discussed by the World Customs Organization (WCO) during the 48th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
From January 23 to 26, 2018, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the annual meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, at the invitation of the World Economic Forum. During the event, he met with global political and business leaders, articulated the critical role of customs in global trade, and actively participated in various thematic discussions, demonstrating WCO's important position in global economic governance.
E-Commerce Trade: Opportunities and Challenges
In his exchanges with trade ministers and business leaders, Secretary General Mikuriya highlighted WCO's latest initiatives regarding cross-border e-commerce shipments. He emphasized that while e-commerce's rapid growth presents unprecedented opportunities for cross-border trade, it also brings new challenges.
On one hand, e-commerce has significantly lowered trade barriers, enabling small businesses and individual consumers to participate in global trade. On the other hand, the massive flow of packages creates substantial pressure on customs supervision. Effectively identifying and intercepting illegal items while preventing tax evasion has become a common challenge for customs authorities worldwide.
The WCO fully recognizes these challenges and actively promotes the development and implementation of solutions. Its core objective is to maximize trade facilitation while ensuring security, particularly benefiting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and consumers. This requires enhanced cooperation among customs administrations, information sharing, and adoption of advanced technologies to improve regulatory efficiency.
Enhancing Customs' Global Influence
Beyond participating in thematic discussions, Secretary General Mikuriya held bilateral meetings with numerous ministers, government leaders, and heads of international organizations. These high-level interactions provided WCO with valuable opportunities to demonstrate customs' crucial role in trade facilitation, security assurance, and revenue collection to global leaders. Through these exchanges, WCO further elevated its visibility and influence on the world stage.
High-level representatives at the meeting expressed appreciation for WCO's contributions across various sessions and its collaborative initiatives. This recognition from the international community establishes a solid foundation for WCO to play an even greater role in global trade governance.
WCO's Future Vision: Collaborative Success
The World Economic Forum annual meeting provided WCO with an important platform to engage in substantive discussions with global leaders about challenges and opportunities in international trade. Through these exchanges, WCO not only enhanced its influence but also contributed to promoting healthy global trade development.
Moving forward, WCO will continue strengthening cooperation with nations to address cross-border trade challenges, advance trade facilitation, ensure trade security, and make greater contributions to global economic prosperity. Particularly in e-commerce, WCO will actively promote the development and implementation of relevant standards to help customs administrations worldwide better adapt to the new trade environment and achieve mutual benefits.
Specifically, WCO will focus on the following areas:
- Enhancing information sharing: Establishing a global platform for customs administrations to access timely trade information and risk alerts, improving regulatory efficiency.
- Promoting advanced technologies: Encouraging customs authorities to adopt technologies like artificial intelligence and big data analytics to enhance package identification and screening capabilities.
- Streamlining clearance processes: Advocating for simplified customs procedures to reduce trade barriers, lower costs, and improve efficiency.
- Strengthening capacity building: Providing technical assistance and training to developing countries' customs administrations to enhance their regulatory capabilities and global trade participation.
Through these efforts, WCO will better fulfill its mission to safeguard the healthy development of global trade.
In summary, WCO's active participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos not only elevated customs' global profile but also offered new approaches to addressing e-commerce trade challenges. Looking ahead, WCO will continue playing its vital role in global trade governance, advancing trade facilitation and security to contribute to worldwide economic prosperity.